Last updated: July 7, 2026
Quick answer: On July 2, Let's Go Washington submitted 511,408 signatures for Initiative 26-645 (IP26-645), which would repeal Washington's 9.9% income tax and prohibit state and local taxes on individual income. About 308,911 valid signatures are required, so qualification for the November 3, 2026 ballot is close to certain. Nothing about your planning should change today: the tax remains law, effective January 1, 2028, until voters or the courts say otherwise — and the vote lands just in time to inform, not replace, your 2027 planning decisions.
The repeal effort that couldn't proceed as a referendum is now an initiative with nearly double the required signatures. Let's Go Washington delivered 511,408 signatures to the Secretary of State's office in Tumwater on July 2 — the filing deadline — against a requirement of roughly 308,911 valid signatures (eight percent of the votes cast in the last governor's race). A cushion of more than 200,000 signatures makes qualification the overwhelmingly likely outcome of the verification process now underway.
This post is part of our Complete Guide to Washington's New Income Tax.
What IP26-645 actually does — and what it leaves alone
The initiative does two things. First, it repeals the 9.9% tax on annual household income above $1 million enacted by ESSB 6346 before the tax ever takes effect. Second, it prohibits the state and local governments from imposing taxes on individual income or taxes measured by an individual's income — restoring the general ban that voters' 2024 measure (Initiative 2111) put in statute and that ESSB 6346 carved an exception into.
Just as important is what it does not touch. The initiative is drafted to repeal only the tax while preserving the sweeteners the legislature packaged with it — the sales tax exemptions on diapers, personal care products, and many over-the-counter drugs, the expanded small-business B&O exemption, and the Working Families Tax Credit expansion. That drafting choice is the center of the opposition's fiscal argument, and it will be the campaign's main fight. It also leaves every other Washington tax exactly where it stands: the capital gains excise tax (7% on the first $1 million of taxable gain, 9.9% above) remains in force and unaffected — voters declined to repeal it in 2024, and the courts have sustained it as an excise rather than an income tax — and the estate tax and B&O tax are untouched.
The timeline from here
Signature verification by statistical sampling is expected to take roughly two weeks. In parallel, the Attorney General's office must draft the "public investment impact disclosure" — a neutral, fifteen-word-maximum statement identifying the top categories of state services affected — due to the Secretary of State by July 23, with any challenge to its wording due in Thurston County Superior Court within three business days. If certified, the measure goes to voters on November 3, 2026. And if it passes, it would take effect in early December 2026 — more than a year before the tax's January 1, 2028 effective date, meaning the income tax would be repealed without ever collecting a dollar.
Why this is an initiative and not a referendum
Readers of our constitutional analysis will recall that ESSB 6346 was drafted with a necessity clause declaring the tax necessary for the support of state government — language that shields a law from referendum under the state constitution. The Secretary of State rejected Let's Go Washington's referendum filing on that basis, and the Washington Supreme Court upheld the rejection on May 4. The initiative route required more signatures and cannot suspend a law pending the vote — but because the tax doesn't take effect until 2028, suspension is beside the point. The necessity clause bought the tax nothing except a delay in the form of the question.
If it passes: durable, but not permanent
A repeal by initiative comes with a constitutional lock most commentary is missing. Under article II, section 41 of the Washington Constitution, a law adopted by initiative may not be amended or repealed by the legislature within two years of enactment except by a two-thirds vote of each house. So if IP26-645 passes in November, re-enacting an income tax before roughly December 2028 would require supermajorities that do not exist in Olympia. After the two-year window, a simple majority could act — the same way ESSB 6346 itself carved through Initiative 2111's ban. That is the honest shape of an initiative victory: a hard two-year lock, then a return to ordinary politics. The only permanent resolutions available are a constitutional amendment or a definitive court ruling — which is why the Citizen Action Defense Fund lawsuit pending in Klickitat County, with its Culliton uniformity argument, remains independently important no matter what happens on November 3.
If it fails: the tax proceeds, and the courts are the remaining track
A defeat at the ballot would leave the tax on schedule for January 1, 2028, with constitutional litigation as the only remaining path to stopping it — and would hand the tax's defenders a potent political fact: a direct public vote sustaining it. Washington's ballot history cuts both ways here, and anyone confidently predicting the outcome is selling something. Voters have rejected personal income tax measures in seven of eight appearances on the ballot across nine decades. But the most recent data point runs the other direction: in 2024, voters declined to repeal the capital gains tax when asked directly. Repealing a tax that applies to roughly 20,000 households is a different question than blocking a tax on everyone — and both campaigns know it.
What founders and high earners should do now
Nothing changes today. The tax is law. Plan as if it takes effect January 1, 2028, because as of this morning, it does. A ballot measure that will probably qualify is not a planning strategy, any more than a pending lawsuit is.
The calendar is unusually cooperative — use it. The vote is November 3, 2026. The most consequential deadline in the planning playbook — ending any Washington place of abode so the 30-day safe harbor can apply for the 2028 tax year — is January 1, 2028. That leaves nearly fourteen months between the vote and the deadline. If you are on the fence about leaving Washington over this tax, you do not have to guess the election outcome: line up the move now — identify the destination, understand the three prongs, know what has to be sold or terminated — and make the go/no-go decision with the election results in hand. What you cannot do is start the analysis in December 2027.
Keep making the low-regret moves. QSBS qualification and documentation, PTE election modeling, estate plan coordination, and income-timing analysis all carry value that does not depend on the initiative — QSBS-excluded gain sits outside the capital gains tax and the income tax alike, and the capital gains and estate taxes are staying regardless of November's result. The Before-2028 playbook is unchanged.
Do not make irreversible moves you would regret if the tax dies. If the income tax is the only reason you are considering relocation — the capital gains and estate taxes do not move you — then executing a permanent move before November is paying full price for something that may be free in five months. Sequence the decision around the two dates that actually resolve uncertainty: November 3, 2026, and any dispositive ruling in the constitutional litigation.
Frequently asked questions
Does the initiative repeal the capital gains tax too? No. IP26-645 addresses the income tax enacted by ESSB 6346 and taxes on individual income generally. The capital gains excise tax — which the courts have sustained as an excise, not an income tax — remains in force, as do the estate tax and B&O tax.
Is qualification for the ballot certain? Nearly. 511,408 signatures were submitted against a requirement of about 308,911 valid signatures. Verification by statistical sample is underway and expected to conclude within weeks. A failure rate high enough to disqualify the measure would be unprecedented at this cushion.
If the initiative passes, can the legislature just re-enact the tax? Not easily, and not soon. Article II, section 41 requires a two-thirds vote of each house to amend or repeal an initiative within two years of enactment. After two years, a simple majority could act — which is why the pending constitutional challenge matters even in a world where the initiative passes.
Should I pause my 2028 planning until the vote? Pause execution of irreversible steps if the income tax is your only driver; do not pause preparation. The abode deadline for 2028 safe-harbor planning is January 1, 2028 — nearly fourteen months after the vote — so a prepared founder can decide after November 3 and still execute in time.
Planning around the 2028 tax while the initiative and the litigation play out? We can stress-test your sequencing — what to prepare now, what to defer until after November 3. Book a 20-minute call.
This post is for educational purposes only and is not legal or tax advice. Consult a qualified attorney about your specific situation.
